My First Ride

As my mother is cleaning out her filing cabinets and shedding the collected items of 30+ years of marriage and 29 years of motherhood. Occasionally she sends me items she thinks are funny or worth keeping.

I’m scoring this one in the funny category. This is the gleaming brochure for my first car which came off the factory line complete with bench seats, AM radio, and rear windows slits that swiveled open. The tagline on the inside reads “A great way to meet your family’s needs – and do it in style.” Let’s just say my great-grandmother had taste in cars.

By the time I got it the stereo had been upgraded to a tape deck/AM/FM radio and it had developed the ability to accelerate into 4th gear without the driver depressing the gas peddle in the mornings.

Not just any Clemson freshman could boast such a ride. Over the three years I drove it it garnered a history of stories like the time I blew the exhaust pipe in half by punching the gas too hard (nothing some temporary duct tape and a $10 welding job couldn’t fix).

When my grandmother gave me her car half-way through college (the car I still drive) this one was retired to the used car lot. Apparently it was safe enough for me to drive but not safe enough for my sister!